


the living land

by millimallow



Series: the world of owa [6]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Animalfolk, Body Horror, Epistolary, Exploration, Family, Fantasy, M/M, short fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 08:36:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17484797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millimallow/pseuds/millimallow
Summary: oh, the great horror of the unexplained.





	the living land

my name is aldus falconhide. i’ve been out in the passageway wilds for a good month now, camping out under the stars, and during this time i’ve observed some simply wonderful fauna and flora. from the top of the canyon walls to the bottom of the valley, my discoveries only increase in magnitude and impressiveness. catalogued below is the most notable and intriguing specimens i have had the luck to encounter so far.

my beloved daughter, i hope that this log reaches you safely.

**the moss-heap tortoisoid:**

  * this peculiar organism is a reptilian bearing resemblance to ordinary members of the tortoise order, its features including a shell, broad toed feet and a blunt beak for consuming vegetation. but unlike other members of the genus, it compounds the nearby peat and moss into its biological structure as an unusual and effective shield against the heat of the sun and predators. it blends in perfectly with the damp valley earth, yet becomes agitated when accidentally stepped on, which was how me and my companion vernine encountered it in the first place. despite its agitation it lacks any solid defensive or offensive strategies aside from running while emitting a loud hissing sound. its swiftness, i estimate, must be a compensation for how often it is stepped on.



**wide-eyed lapinate**

  * it’s a rabbit with grotesquely large eyes. the pupils and iris are similarly enlarged to match the eyeballs, creating quite a frightening sight, especially when you realize that the body of the rabbit has not expanded in size to match the enlargened eyes. it seems to observe a peaceful and social environment, but remains hypervigilant. unlike normal rabbits who compensate for their poor eyesight with stunning hearing, these rabbits are monumentally deaf to any non-nearby sound (though their ears have not decreased in size) but able to see for great distances and in any light conditions.



**mallorine**

  * we’ve been debating this one amongst ourselves for a while. initially we weren’t even sure what it could be- a pulsating baby-pink mass which responded so eagerly to our touch, nearly absorbing my finger before fiorlan and the hound could pull me out of its reach. despite a rich vanilla-like scent, its actions seemed to have no effect on me or my finger, and i found the texture pleasing. it grew across the damp cave walls where we sheltered one night after having our wagon caught in the crux of a large storm passing over the area. when removed from a hydrated atmosphere it quickly withers, unfortunately. we had carved away a sample for our studies only to find that it perished without constant supplication of water and darkness. it made sounds of displeasure and deflation as it did, and when we re-entered the cave for more what remained shrunk perpetually away from fiorlan- who was the one to remove the specimen- and the rest of our group. its dried remains, we later found, are sweet and particularly filling.



**[name pending]**

  * this one is quite a scary story, so i hope you have your lights on and your father around to read it out. you might have learnt in school by now that inside everyone- folk like us, humans and elves and everyone else- is a system of organs that keeps them working and happy. organs do things like breathing and cleaning the inside of our bodies. sometimes people call the passageway a living body, because it has organs that maintain it and tons of little things inside it just like a body. finding this made that a bit more literal. it’s a giant lump of gross flesh hanging off the side of a cliff wall, dangling there and twitching. it didn’t seem to react for a while until our hound was attracted by its smell and dove to take a bite. before we knew it the strange thing had ensnared him, dragging him by the legs until we pulled him forward. he’s struggling to walk properly at the moment, so he hasn’t been of much help to fiorlan, but we’re hoping he’ll get better. at least he’s eating. when we see more of this clinging to the wall we stay far away from it.



**giant lobsters**

  * apologies for the simple name on this one. what we think the passageway does is that it provides new, modified varieties of species that already exist outside of it, testing how well they can survive. when we saw large lobsters, we called them giant lobsters and moved on. but then we recognized that the lobsters were relaxing themselves in water which to any conventional organism would rank as highly uncomfortable to rapidly boiling. observing as we guided the wagon safely over the rock path we had constructed through the springs, it was noticed by our team that the lobsters seemed uncomfortable when not at least partially submerged in this boiling water, emitting screaming sounds and appearing to be in pain. splashing part of our cold-water reservoir on them caused great injury. despite their size, they could not retaliate thanks to their confinement, so we were able to hunt a few and cook their meat solely using cold water. tasted like normal lobster.



**the digetrigal**

  * me and fiorlan encountered this beast alone, and i alone made it out. this thing was a ragged brown bird easily eight feet long and with a wingspan double that, its beak crooked and hooked for the spearing of prey. it was nesting in the water territory where only a few days ago we had encountered the lobsters. suffice to say it was not particularly content with us intruding upon its territory, and perhaps smelled the flesh of its prey (which we had encountered more of on our way) inside our cold storage vessels. so when me and fiorlan had left to find a suitable clearing, supplies in hand, it spotted us and dived. its speed is immense and its appearance terrifying. but more than anything, its beak and talons are crueler than any normal bird. fiorlan was closer. despite its attempts, it could only carry him, giving up the chase on me as he struggled within its grip. we disembarked as soon as i could run back to the wagon. we’ve been circling the nest for days trying to catch the beast leaving, and when it’s clear and light i swear i can see his hair on that great rock stump.



there’s no doubt that your father will censor what he finds inappropriate in this letter, so i’ve only written you the truth. hope still remains for fiorlan, but we must act fast and decisively. i hope that you are to hear well from me, him and vernine as soon as possible.

all my love to you, doora,

your father, aldus. 


End file.
